AMD Has Suddenly Become One of the Most Explosive Stocks in the Market — Here’s Why

A resurgence in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency use has benefited one stock in particular: graphics chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) , which stretched gains into its third day in a row on Wednesday.

Shares rose 4.4% to $12.56 on Wednesday.

An AMD spokesperson on Tuesday said that the company is seeing “solid demand for our Polaris-based offerings in the gaming and newly resurgent cryptocurrency markets,” helping to spur the rally.

Cryptocurrency miners often build ‘mining’ computers with graphic processors that then solve complex mathematical equations and other problems online. Users are then awarded online currency for their efforts.

Ethereum cryptocurrency is up over 2,800% year-to-date through Sunday, while Bitcoin is up about 160% this year, according to data from CoinDesk.

The Sunnyvale, Ca.-based developer has climbed nearly 20% since the beginning of the week and led the S&P 500 on Wednesday. AMD is up over 13% in the year to date, compared to an 18.4% gain for the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) .

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Apple (AAPL) still in focus after mixed responses on Wall Street to its WWDC.

Tesla’s (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday evening the company wants to build three more battery plants in the U.S.